Gen Con attracts gamers, characters from all over

People from all over the country – and even the world – will be visiting the Indiana Convention Center, site of this year’s 47th Gen Con, for gaming and showing off their costumes.

Last year alone, nearly 50,000 people attended the event.

While many will be dressed in plain, civilian clothing, some people take the opportunity to get decked out as their favorite movie or video game characters.

Some of the most popular ones include characters from Star Wars, Batman, Pokémon, Spiderman, and Zelda, just to name a few.

Darrell Goffinet – from Indianapolis – has been attending the event for five years. However, this is the first year he is planning on attending all four days.

And this year he came dressed as Aquaman from the Injustice series.

“Injustice Aquaman seldom gets loved in conventions and comic books,” he said. His costume consists of many imprinted and cutout leather parts that he made himself.

Goffinet said Thursday is just a trial run for the costume, as he will be wearing the full Aquaman outfit on Saturday.

Lee Tapscotti – donning an Obi-Wan Kenobi Jedi Knight costume – is attending his first Gen Con. However, he is no stranger as he has attended many other Cons, including Comic Con.

Aaron Robinson – who is at his second Gen Con – said what he loves most is the competitions and the people. He said the people are what make Cons fun, especially the ones in costume.

Mariah Manuel has been attending Gen Con for three years, coming dressed as Harley Quinn from the Batman comics this year. She loves seeing all of the creative costumes and how close they may or may not look to the actual movie or video game character.

As an eight-year veteran of Gen Con, Emily Barnett – dressed as Zelda – said she continually attends the event with her friends because it is a great time getting to know new people and see some that have been there – or at other Cons – before.

While cosplay, dressing up as a favorite fictional character, is one of the major attractions at Gen Con, the convention is centered on games. Playing board and card games and seeing the latest in video games is another popular part of the event.

Visitors will have the opportunity to participate in hundreds of games throughout the four days including giant, card game tournaments.

Steve Bowden and his friend Michael Buot traveled by plane from Massachusetts to come play the games and participate in tournaments just to see how good they are against people they have never met – or played against – before.

“There are not many people to play with in Massachusetts,” Bowden said. “But, it’s a lot of fun because there are many games you haven’t heard of here, and games that have been around for awhile.”

It is Buot’s first year at Gen Con. He came because Bowden – who’s first time attending was at last year’s Gen Con – was a friend of his and said it was fun.

They said one of their favorite parts is playing “Magic: The Gathering” tournaments. Magic is a game that can be played either online on a gaming console or PC.

It can also be played in person as a card game, which are what most of the Gen Con gaming tournaments consist of.

Bowden has been playing the game for several years, with Buot starting just three years ago.

“I like the game for its artwork,” Buot said. “It’s kind of confusing at first, but gets easier the more you play it.”

“I enjoy the artwork and am a big fan of the strategy needed to play the game,” Bowden said. “This is a fun place to go. It’s just a fun place to come and see people and play games.”

Gen Con will continue now through Sunday.

Seth Morin is a reporter for TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.